Brezonde
Brezonde (Arabic: برزند Burzand; Barzuna: Barzona; Old Barzuna: بارزۇنا) is a town in Cape Cross Parish and the oldest continually inhabited settlement in Brunant. Brezonde was the site of eight sieges, from the Vandalic invasions to the Franco-Brunanter War. History Early history on the left]] In 534 the Byzantines took control of the islands of Brunant from the Vandals after the Battle of Brontium. In 540 they began the foundations of what would become Brezonde. A few houses and farms were built by early settlers. By 760 the St. Nicholas Church was built by the Byzantines. When the Arabs conquered Brunant in the early 800's, they settled Brezonde and turned it from a small community into a town. By the year 900 there were about 5000 residents and Brezond was the largest of eight towns in the region. The Arabs contributed much to the town by way of architecture; both Brezonde Castle and Burzand Mosque are among the finest buildings in Brunant. The disparity in the origins of most of Brunant's Arab population led to the development of a language (together with input from other romance languages) called Barzuna. In 1244 Aragon began a month-long siege of Brezonde Castle which resulted in their conquest of the islands. The Aragonese had control over the area until the late 14th century, when the Venetians came to rule the area. Independence When Brunant declared its independence the people of Brezonde were not major supporters of it. During the War of independence Brezondians were known for taking up arms against the pro-independence militias and businessmen like Antonio Abreu even financed armed groups to counter them. Rudolf Boskerck the Younger was sent to subdue the town with 350 soldiers in 1428, but Brezonde quickly surrendered in order to prevent damage to the city. Economy Tourism and retail are some of the largest sectors in the local economy. Since 2013 the city has approved the use of the local Brezondian lira. Tourism Brezonde, as the oldest inabited settlement in the country, is famous for its touristic sites. Here there are nine buildings that were made before the year 1000; the majority of Brezonde's buildingss were torn down throught the ages and replaced with newer ones. As such, you can find the 1100 year-old Burzand Mosque besides an 18th century Victorian library. Byzantine house.PNG|Ruins of a Byzantine house St. Nicholas Church.jpg|St. Nicholas Church, the oldest in Brunant Burzand Mosque.jpg|Burzand Mosque Brezonde Castle.jpg|Brezonde Castle Casa Abreu.jpg|Casa Abreu (the oldest used house in Brezonde) Government Election are being held in October 2015 for the municipal government. Martha Andona is the outgoing mayor, but following corruption issues in her government decided not to run again. 2015-17 government formation The current government has the Greens and Esquedra Republicana with the most seats, but after one year, a new mayor has yet to be chosen. Juana Martins of ERB has 7 votes in favor but is still one short of an absolute majority. On 30 October citizens went to vote and ERB and the Greens finished first and second, respectively, with Avanze and the SDP behind in votes. At the start the SLP candidate backed Juana Martins of ERB for mayor, as did her party. The Greens backed Julio Jordes for mayor. Both the SDP and Avanze put forth candidates, but none was able to garner more than 15% in votes, though refused to back the leading candidates. After one month of no resolution, government appointed Martha Andona to lead the interim government until a mayor and local government is chosen. On 10 July 2016, AV member Carolina Van Donk withdrew her candidacy and the party moved to back Martins for mayor. Independent candidate Charles Wostor has abstained from voting, Valandre of the SDP refuses to back one of the other candidates and the Greens have refused to back down from their chances of attaining the mayorship. On 12 March 2017 it was 500 days since the election, with no mayor and government in sight. Eventually following the Green Party scandal its members joined the new ECO17 and in turn ended up supporting the united YES' Juana Martins' candidacy to end the stalemate. Culture Brezonde has a number of schools, which include: *Adelia Hierro Primary School (public school) *Van Haecht College (public school) *Collegio Champagnat Santa Clara (private school) Sports They have one football club competing the the First League, Brezonde 1920 F.C.. There is also a korfball club located in Brezonde, named Barzona Korfal, playing in the Second Division. Map ---- *'*1 - Aragon Straat (Rua Aragon)' *'*2 - Brunantstraat (Rua Barzona)' *'*3 - Venicestraat (Rua Veniza)' Demographics In Brezonde, figures for officially-recognized languages are as such: 10.718 spoke Barzuna primarily, 10.130 spoke Dutch and 402 spoke English. 15.577 people (74%) are Roman Catholic, 3209 people (15.2%) are United Protestant, 1953 (9.3%) are atheist or non-religious, 124 (0.6%) are Jewish, 101 (0.5%) are Muslim, 40 are unknown, 27 are Buddhist, 6 are Pagan, 8 are Russian Orthodox, 4 are Greek Orthodox and 1 is Zoroastrian. Notable Brezondians *Philip Henneman, founding father *Stefan Malphy, artist *Annette Howards, actress *Martina Belmont, Miss Brunant *Carlinhos, footballer Twin cities * Lamedina * Kota Kambular * Mahón * Verona See also *Barzuna (people) *List of Mayors of Brezonde *Sant-Antonio Mayor *Fontana Prison Category:Brezonde Category:Barzuna Category:Towns